


We'll Have an Old Fashioned Wedding

by veleda_k



Category: White Collar
Genre: Community: cottoncandy_bingo, Episode Related, F/M, Fluff, Marriage, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-23
Updated: 2012-09-23
Packaged: 2017-11-14 21:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veleda_k/pseuds/veleda_k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elizabeth, Peter, and their weddings. Rated VF for Very Fluffy. </p>
<p>Spoilers for 3x05. Written for cottoncandy_bingo on DW, for the "wedding (or equivalent union)" square. Title is taken from the song "An Old Fashion Wedding," from Annie Get Your Gun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We'll Have an Old Fashioned Wedding

Elizabeth glanced furtively outside her dressing room before breathing a sigh of relief. It was the first time all day that she wasn't surrounded by her mother and a bevy of aunts, cousins, and friends, all determined to make this the most magical day of her life. Except somehow it had become about what they wanted rather than what she wanted. What was supposed to be the most special day of her life was quickly turning into one of the most stressful.

They meant well, Elizabeth knew that. And it was sure to be a beautiful ceremony. But it was taking all of her willpower not to grab Peter and elope. Only imagining the disappointment on her mother's face stopped her. 

There was a knock at the door, and Elizabeth tensed, only to smile when she saw who it was. "Peter." She pursed her lips. "Don't let my mother see you here. She's very serious about the 'the groom can't see the bride before the wedding' thing."

"Sorry," Peter said, shutting the door. "I saw my dad down the hall, and I had to get away. I think he wants to give me the 'marital responsibilities' lecture. Again."

"Is it bad?"

Peter grimaced. "The phrase 'intimate duties' comes up."

Elizabeth winced. "Ouch."

"It might not be so bad if he weren't so obviously embarrassed about it." He thought it over. "No. No, it would still be bad."

Elizabeth laughed lightly and placed her arms around his shoulders. "At least I'm not the only one at the end of my rope."

Peter brushed a strand of hair out of her face. For some reason, Elizabeth's hair refused to stay in the glamorous updo her stylist friend Rhonda had created. "Are you not happy?" Peter asked worriedly. 

Elizabeth held back a sigh. One of the first things she learned about Peter was that he felt responsible for everything. If she wasn't happy, he saw it as his job to fix it, even if there was nothing he could do. It could be exhausting--sometimes she felt like she had to be happy for his sake--but she recognized it for what it was: love. She kissed him. "We'll say a few phrases in front of the priest, eat some cake, dance, and get our pictures taken. And _then_ we have the honeymoon," she added with a naughty glint in her eye. "I am happy." The ceremony wasn't the point, marrying Peter was. The ceremony would last a few hours, the marriage, the rest of her life. She kissed Peter again, then shooed him away. "Now, go. If the 'Valkyries' as you have been known to call them see you here, you may not survive to marry me."

Peter hurried out, and as Elizabeth suspected, it didn't take long for her friends and family to descend on her again. But this time Elizabeth felt a little more peaceful as Rhonda did her hair yet again, and her mother tried one last time to convince her to wear Great Aunt Cynthia's truly hideous brooch as her "something old." And if Elizabeth comforted herself by counting down the hours until she and Peter could be alone, well, no one else had to know.

***

"Do you, Suit?"

"I do," Peter said, keeping an admirably straight face. 

"And do you, Mrs. Suit?"

Elizabeth smiled warmly, first at Mozzie, then at Peter. "I do."

"Then, by the power vested in me"--Peter muttered at that, but Mozzie ignored him--"I now pronounce you husband and wife, again."

The rich sounds of Sinatra filled the apartment. Elizabeth looked over to see Neal fiddling with an old fashioned record player. He grinned at her. 

Peter held out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

Elizabeth blinked back tears and drew him close. "Always."

"Is this more like the wedding you wanted?" Peter asked as they danced. 

"This is perfect," Elizabeth told him. "You and Neal set this up?"

Peter nodded. "I had the idea, and Neal helped make it happen. You helped too, actually. Those are the decorations you ordered."

"And Mozzie pitched in too," Elizabeth said. "I'm grateful to all of you. It's a wonderful idea. Almost as good as my idea."

Peter looked at her, puzzled. "What was your idea?"

"Marrying you." She kissed him tenderly. 

Neal and Mozzie were nowhere to be seen. Elizabeth was sure they were around, but right then it felt like she and Peter were the only people in the world. "To have and to hold," she said softly. 

"For better or worse," Peter whispered back. 

Elizabeth leaned against him, safe and warm in his arms. "This is better. This is best."

_It's not the ceremony that matters_ , she thought, _it's the person_. She could have said it out loud, but she didn't need to. He knew.


End file.
